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Passengers rescued from icebound Antarctic ship are headed home

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Passengers from the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy linked arms on Dec. 31 and stamped out a helicopter landing site on the ice near the trapped ship 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart, Australia.
(The Associated Press/file)

CANBERRA, Australia — An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic resumed its journey home Saturday, leaving behind another two icebreakers trapped in pack ice.

The Aurora Australis will continue its interrupted resupply mission to Australia's Antarctic base Casey Station before returning to the Australian island state of Tasmania in mid-January with the rescued scientists, journalists and tourists.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre, which oversaw the rescue, told the Aurora to stay in the area in case help was needed. Under international conventions observed by most countries, ships' crews are obliged to take part in such rescues and the owners carry the costs.

"Our highest priority is safety of life at sea, which is why we are assisting in breaking a navigational path for both of these vessels." Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, the Coast Guard Pacific Area Commander, said in a statement released by the Coast Guard after passengers had been successfully evacuated from the Russian ship. "We are always ready and duty bound to render assistance in one of the most remote and harsh environments on the face of the globe."

The Polar Star left its homeport of Seattle in early December to take part in one of its main missions, Operation Deep Freeze, to break a channel through the sea ice of McMurdo Sound to resupply and refuel the U.S. Antarctic Program's McMurdo Station on Ross Island. The Polar Star is the U.S. Coast Guard's only active heavy polar ice breaker.

On Saturday, AMSA said the Aurora was allowed to continue and that the Chinese ship was safe.

Andrew Peacock, an Australian doctor and photographer who was rescued from the Russian ship, said his fellow passengers had been frustrated by the news Friday that their journey home had been delayed by another potential rescue operation.

"My feeling, and those of others I believe, today is one of relief at finally having a concrete plan for how and when we can return to loved ones, family and friends," Peacock said in an email from the Aurora.

The Chinese ship remained stuck several miles from the Russian icebreaker Akademik Shokalskiy, from which the passengers were rescued. The Russian ship has been immobile since Christmas Eve.

A reporter for China's official Xinhua News Agency who is aboard the Snow Dragon, Zhang Jiansong, said an iceberg appeared overnight and blocked the ship's return route. He said the ship would again try to find a way out, possibly as early as Monday.

Zhang said late Saturday that the 101 crew members on board the vessel were safe and had plenty of supplies.

In addition to the disruption to Australia's scientific program, the rescue will cost Australian taxpayers 400,000 Australian dollars ($358,000), Environment Minister Greg Hunt's spokesman John O'Doherty said.